Fig, walnut and dark chocolate chip granola

A new recipe for fig, walnut and dark chocolate chip granola. Because breakfast is always improved by a little bit of chocolate…

I love making granola. It’s both simple and satisfying (‘I made my own breakfast cereal: fist bump!’), with infinite flavour possibilities.

This fig, walnut and dark choc chip granola has unlikely origins. I bought bags of walnuts and dried figs to make Rick Stein‘s walnut and fig pork chops from his book From Venice to Istanbul. The book is excellent and so was the recipe, and of course figs and walnuts are a classic combination. Which led me to thinking how well they’d go together in granola. That genesis is one of the things I love most about cooking and developing recipes: how making one dish opens up five doors in your head leading to other dishes.

There’s so many textures in this granola – the fudgy dried figs, crisp walnuts, chewy jumbo oats and – of course – those chocolate chips. Do use the vanilla powder if you can (or seeds from one vanilla pod). It adds a subtle, homely flavour to the oat clusters.

Try it with some cold almond milk or a dollop of coconut yogurt, fresh figs or slices of banana.

Fig, walnut and dark chocolate chip granola

Method (Makes approx 700g)

Preheat your oven to 150°C/130°C Fan/300°F. Grease and line a baking tray.

Heat the maple syrup, coconut oil and apple juice in a saucepan over a medium heat. stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon until the oil has melted and all the ingredients are combined. Place to one side.

Add the vanilla powder, oats, chopped walnuts, pumpkin seeds and pinch of salt to a large mixing bowl. Pour in the syrup mixture and stir well to coat. Spread the granola mixture out over the lined baking tray, using your fingers to pinch together some small granola clusters.

Bake for 45 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and leave to cool completely on the baking tray. Once cool, cut the dried figs into small chunks and stir these and the dark chocolate chips into the granola. Keeps in an airtight jar or tin for several weeks.